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Such devices would allow for a new form of semi-custodial sentences, where prisoners can work through the week and return to their cells for the weekend.

More foreign inmates would also be released at least nine months early, but only if they agreed to leave the country.

In July, an annual report from the chief inspector of prisons criticised the UK's jails, warning they were in their worst state for 10 years.

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The plans were set up by Michael Gove

Staff cuts and overcrowding also had a "significant impact" on safety, while some inmates were languishing in cockroach-infested cells, prompting one staff member at London's Wormwood Scrubs to say: "I wouldn't keep a dog in there."

It was also partially fuelled by the growing popularity of "legal" high drugs.

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Prisoners will be able to work while being monitored

We want foreign criminals deported as quickly as possible

Ministry of Justice spokesman

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: "We want foreign criminals deported as quickly as possible. We also want to ensure the sentences handed down to British criminals keep all our citizens safe.

“Protecting the public is our first responsibility and we won't compromise on that for any reason."